The present invention is directed to an economical glass image encapsulation process that encapsulates an image between a single plate of glass and an adhesive sheet of ethylene vinyl acetate to eliminate the need for multiple steps and equipment associated with traditional glass image encapsulation.
The inventor of the present invention has worked in the glass production and imaging industry for over twenty years. He has encapsulated images into glassware of all dimensions and designs for his clients. When encapsulating images, he has used or witnessed in the industry, myriad procedures that include: organic ultraviolet inks, sophisticated interlayer patterns created with complex algorithms, scratch resistant glassware, different compositions of laminate for the glass, and numerous other innovative concepts.
The inventor was very familiar with his industry's traditional process for encapsulate images in glass. In the traditional process, a digital image is first printed on a thin sheet of adhesive material, creating a decorative interlayer. The decorative interlayer is sandwiched between two adhesive sheets of film, which are themselves sandwiched between two plates of glass. The process next requires ink from the image to be fixed on the glass by setting the glass in a special dryer. The dryer causes the solvents from the ink to evaporate, thereby leaving only ink on the glass. The evaporation process continues and the glass is made more absorbent for ink by heating the glass up to 1000 degrees in a high temperature oven. The high temperature is efficacious in increasing the absorbency of the glass to the ink. Next, the glass is tempered, or quenched, to cool the glass. If the glass is not tempered, cracks and bubbles can form due to the chemical nature of Silica (SiO2, chief element of glass). The tempering machine is very expensive and requires a high skill set to operate. The inventor recognized that this traditional image encapsulating process was time consuming and required great capital expenditure.
Over the years, the inventor encountered numerous difficulties, and noted many problems with the traditional image encapsulation process. Even derivations of the image encapsulation process contained these same problems. The chief issue was the high cost of encapsulating images on glass. For example, the tempering machine, used to cool the glass, could cost up to a million dollars. Another expense that the inventor thought was superfluous was the use of two plates of glass. He wondered if the encapsulation process could be accomplished with only one plate of glass. Also, whenever the glass was removed from the high temperature oven, bubbles and cracks resulted, which obviated the whole glass. This waste added to the cost of the process. Even after the glass was completed, the cutting and shipping procedures seemed arduous and inefficient in the traditional glass image encapsulation process.
Other problems that the inventor wished to solve included the fact that cutting the plate of glass encapsulated with an image required multiple steps because of the thickness of the two plates of glass and multiple films of adhesive. The traditional approach required: cutting a first plate of glass on one side, flipping the glass over, cutting the second plate of glass, and then finally, cutting the adhesive films between the glass. Another problem was the costs associated with shipping glass with images. The industry standard was to ship the whole glass after the image was encapsulated on it. This shipments of plates of glass was not only heavy and expensive, but the glass often cracked during shipping. The inventor started to conceptualize how he could eliminate some of these superfluous steps, wasted materials, and shipping costs associated with the traditional glass image encapsulation process.
Through past research and knowledge of the chemical industry, the inventor was aware of a flexible, adhesive polymer that possessed high clinginess characteristics, which he realized would be conducive to retaining ink solvents of the image. The polymer was ethylene vinyl acetate (known in the industry as “EVA”), and was available as a flexible, thin sheet that could easily be cut into any desired dimension. With trial and error, the inventor was able to embed digital images onto the ethylene vinyl acetate from a simple flat bed printer. This initial printing process was more economical than digital printing on the plate of glass. The inventor realized that perhaps he did not have to embed the digital images on the plate of glass if the glass would accept the ethylene vinyl acetate with the embedded image instead. However, he still had to make the glass more receptive to the image on the sheet of ethylene vinyl acetate.
Because the inventor worked in the glass industry for many years, he was aware that cerium oxide was efficacious for polishing and removing scratches from glass. He realized that if he was to have any success, he should start out with the cleanest plate of glass possible. So he first washed the plate of glass with a detergent mix of cerium oxide and water. After trial and error, he discovered that the glass polished better with cerium oxide and hot deionized water, rather than regular fresh water. After the inventor washed the plate of glass, the glass appeared more receptive to acquiring the image on the sheet of ethylene vinyl acetate.
The inventor then adhered the printed sheet of ethylene vinyl acetate onto the freshly washed, single plate of glass. However, he realized that the sheet of ethylene vinyl acetate was too exposed, and would be better served with a protective layer covering it. The inventor utilized a protective coating of silicone paper as a separator, which he placed on top of the sheet of ethylene vinyl acetate. After trial and error, the inventor further realized that the protective coating created a more accurate encapsulation of the image, since slippage was prevented. The inventor recognized that one of the problems was close to being resolved. Now, images could be shipped on the sheet of ethylene vinyl acetate, which could then be placed on the glass at the final destination, rather than shipping the whole plate of glass with the image encapsulated on it. Despite these new processes, the inventor still recognized that he had to create the right environment for the glass to fully accept the image from the sheet of ethylene vinyl acetate.
This last step is where the industry had difficulties in the past, and where most of the expenses originated. The inventor began to research ways to make silica more absorbent, that did not include very high temperatures. He realized that if he could find a way to do this, he could eliminate the two most expensive steps of the image encapsulating process—heating and tempering. His research led him to scholarly articles in journals such as Philosophical Magazine, “The effect of environment on silica fractures: vacuum, carbon monoxide, water, and nitrogen”, and “pH hysteresis effect with silica capillaries in capillary zone electrophoresis” by William Lambert. He also studied a host of other scientific articles found on web sites, like: http://prb.aps.org/abstract/PRB/v59/i6/p4066_1, and http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1381116998001733.
He pieced this information together and, over time, recognized that a vacuum oven would create the right absorbency environment for the glass. Through trial and error, he programmed some basic thermodynamic parameters into a vacuum oven. He then performed the following steps after placing the plate of glass in the vacuum oven: preset the vacuum oven to an atmospheric pressure of 1110 millibars, set the temperature to 130 degrees Celsius, heat the plate of glass for 60 minutes, and maintain the temperature for 10 minutes. The inventor finally let the plate of glass cool down for 20 minutes at room temperature. Since the finished product comprised of only one plate of glass, the inventor only had to make one simple cut on one side of the glass to create the desired dimensions. This was another problem resolved, as he did not have to perform multiple cuts from both sides of the encapsulated glass, like before. The inventor was now able to perform his new glass image encapsulating process for a fraction of the cost of the traditional process.
However, the inventor reviewed marketing material, and realized that many consumers preferred a dark background to the images in the glass. To achieve a more opaque look, he added a layer of paint over the silicone paper separator after removing the plate of glass from the vacuum oven. By performing this additional step, he could adjust the darkness behind the image. The darker the paint, the less translucent the plate of glass became.
Glass image encapsulating processes have been utilized in the past; yet none with the present cost reducing characteristics of the present invention, See U.S. Pat. No. 7,544,390; U.S. Pat. No. 5,019,440; U.S. Pat. No. 7,311,956; and 2011/0209634.
For the foregoing reasons, there is an economical glass image encapsulation process that eliminates the need for expensive ovens and tempering machines, eliminates steps for cutting glass, reduces shipping costs, and allows more artists to enter the field of glass imaging.